Sometimes, Ignorance is Bliss!

 

Walt Whitman has an interesting perspective on knowledge and beauty in his poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer". In the poem, the narrator describes how he walks out on a brilliant astronomer's lecture on the science of cosmos because he simply wishes to see the beauty of the night sky. Now I have to agree with Whitman's message that you don't necessarily need to understand something to see the beauty in it. For instance, would you rather look at this on a romantic date?

By  Michael J. Bennett (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

OR, would you prefer to see this image of the material stars are made of?

By Borb [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

I think the answer is fairly obvious for most of us. I believe that as a species humans have a lust for knowledge and beauty, its part of what sets us apart from animals. However, we shouldn't let one of these pursuits overtake the other. What good is knowing how rainbows are formed without an appreciation for their breathtaking display of colors? And shouldn't the sight of a gorgeous rainbow spark the urge to better understand it? It's like a magic show, we suspend our disbelief to enjoy an illusion and then wonder "how did they do that?".

So while I mostly agree with the poem, I feel that Whitman's perspective of beauty over knowledge to be a bit one sided. Let's take a look at Chopin's Nocturne op. 9 no. 2 which can be found at the following link. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk) I loved this song long before I even knew what on Earth a nocturne was. And I'm sure that any of my readers can see a similar haunting melancholy in the composition. However, the effect of the piece can be further amplified by knowledge of the sad life that Frederic Chopin lived. He was a romantic in exile from his native Poland, suffering from chronic illness and financial strife. Knowing the story of Chopin's life allows listeners to hear his music as a window into his struggles. It elevates the piece to a new level of emotion, one of empathy for the creator.

So... That's my first blog post. Thanks for reading, and have a wicked good rest of your day!